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Tunisia's presidential election: "comical"

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In the run
up to Sunday's presidential election, the Tunisian minister of justice and
foreign affairs told FRANCE
24 that democracy in the country
is working. One of our Observers in Tunisia, who lives under police
surveillance, reacts to what he says is a joke.

Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has been re-elected president of Tunisia three times already since his first victory on
November 7, 1987. While Tunisia
enjoys a growth rate of 5%, efficient infrastructure, a healthy education
system, and one of the best reputations for women's rights in the region, it
seems that somewhere along the lines, freedom of speech got left behind.

This year
the country can celebrate a slight improvement in its international reputation.
Reporters Without Borders ranked Ben Ali's Tunisia in 154th place
on their press freedom index,
up 21 from last year when they came in last - 175th.

“This farce of an election where everyone already knows the result”

Mokhtar
Yahyaoui is a former judge. He was removed from his position and banned from leaving
the country in 2001 after he wrote a letter to the president asking for the
independence of the judiciary to be guaranteed. His blog was hacked in September of this year and
remains inaccessible today.